avrooster

Trying to answer your questions:

1) Car rental in Bariloche: As said above, no need for the larger car.

2) GPS: as also said above by top poster odie1, "I wouldn't think a GPS is necessary."

3) Would we be safe in waiting to reserve this when we arrive in Bariloche (2-3 days before the trip) or do we really need to do this now? NOT SURE, IT DEPENDS ON THE DATES.

4) data/phone use: quite ignorant.

Don't worry so much, caseyhen, you'll have a great time in my country.

crellston

We drove that route years ago when I assume the roads were in a worse state than then are now. Although we enecountered snow, rain mud and ice we got on fine with a VW gol which was around the same size as the Corsa ( and there were four of us). If you hav. Smartphone, down load the maps from google, apple maps or whatever and then you will be able to access them using just the GPS locator rather than cellphone data - takes a bit longer but it does work.

Basically, it is difficult to get lost ( even for me!)

yestravel

Rent your car now. Our car rental in Bariloche got messed up and it was difficult to get a last minute one. This was on a 3 day weekend. A small car is fine. We did the drive 5-6 years ago before the road completion and had no problems in a small car. Agree with crellston, it will be hard to get lost. We didn't have a GPS I know and not sure if we even had a map.

Have a great trip!

caseyhen

Crellston, how did I not already know this? Thanks for that suggestion: done.

I was actually more worried about the Circuito Chico portion of our driving than the seven lakes. Are maps of those two drives plentiful once we're in Bariloche?

We will definitely reserve the car ahead - today in fact - I was wondering if we could hold off on the turisur sailing trip reservation, but I think we may do it now just to be safe.

Off to make a decision on the phone/data plan.

avrooster

Caseyhen: you e-mailed me early this morning.

I replied twice from my yahoo e-mail, with no reply.

I tried with g-mail and it said it was unable to deliver.

This is what I wrote:

Yes, Casey, "farmacias carry typical decongestant meds", but they have them behind the counter.

Mucinex may or may not be available here, but the drug name seems to be "guaifenesina" and that´s what your husband should ask for.

Of course, your husband should tell the pharmacist you have high blood pressure. He should say "mi mujer tiene presión alta".

If it gets so bad you need to see a doctor over the weekend, we have a problem. The first idea that comes to mind would be to go to the "Hospital Alemán", which has a good reputation with tourists. If you need a house call, it could prove quite expensive, but possible.

For your cab ride to the airport, I recommend a lady taxi driver called Claudia Siebert siebertclaudiaAThotmailDOTcom Her rate is quite competitive and she is a safe driver.

I'm waiting for that phone number I asked for.

Get well, so you can enjoy the San Telmo fair tomorrow.

dwdvagamundo

caseyhen--good decision to get the Brazilian visa. I enjoyed the Brazilian side (with the Bird Park) more than the Argentine side. And the visa really looks fab!

Consider staying at the Grand Crucero Hotel in Puerto Iguazu. It's not in the city, but on the road that leads to the Argentine side of the falls and also near the road that leads to the Brazilian side, and there is a bus stop very near the hotel for buses that go to both. I stayed there last October and had a really great stay!

avrooster

I believe caseyhen is back home.

caseyhen

Hello all,

Especially you, avrooster...

I'm embarrassed to have taken so long (unforgivable!) to hop back on here to say a huge thank you to everyone who made our trip as wonderful as it was. Avrooster, you saved me when I was so sick on our last weekend in BA and lying awake in the middle of the night wondering how I could ever pack and leave in 48 hours. In the end, I popped some bootleg antibiotics DH had brought along and sent him out to a farmacia, where a wonderful English-speaking professional gave him just what I needed to recover enough to get home.

Not to mention the fact that we were scheduled to fly to JFK during the mid-March storm of the century, and that bought us an extra day and a half in beautiful Buenos Aires. Win!

I haven't written a trip report or posted pictures anywhere yet, but our trip (Montevideo - Punta del Este - Bariloche - San Martin - Puerto Blest - Iguazu Falls *both sides!* - Buenos Aires was simply stellar.

And yes, Avrooster, we had a wonderful time in your beautiful city!

Quick notes: Agree that Montevideo is totally skippable, but it was a necessary stop as our gracious hosts wanted to meet us there. Completely unimpressed except for an amazing meal at a small restaurant where our hosts had chatted with Mick Jagger when the Stones were in concert there. Cool. PDE was as beautiful as promised and we were able to drive outside the town a bit as well.

Yes, there was a Harley Davidson convention in Bariloche during the first portion of our stay there, actually headquartered at our hotel, but it affected us not at all. Interesting note: there was also a regional (countrywide?) Jehovah's Witness convention in town at the same time. Odd juxtaposition for sure.

The drive up the Route of the Seven Lakes was incredible, and we've driven in the Pyrenees, Alps, etc. One of my favorites ever. And happened upon San Martin during Carnival, what a treat.

Back in Bariloche, on our trip to Puerto Blest, we made friends with a young couple from Australia who had been traveling around South America for four months and planned a move to the US once the appropriate documentation had been secured. Turned out we would be in BA at the same time, a week later or so, and we met again there for a night of great fun. To add to the serendipity, we were also scheduled for the same ferry to Colonia del Sacramento a few days later and bid them farewell as they continued their travels at a tiny outdoor cafe in town. We'll stay in touch, as they're now living in Houston and plan to visit NYC (not far from us) soon. Just love it when this happens.

And yes yes yes the Brazilian visa was worth the NYC trip and worth every penny. We loved the bird park and though the heat was nearly unbearable wouldn't have missed both sides. Thanks for the push.

We loved BA and loved the studio we rented through Homeaway, near Plaza Italia in Palermo. So much to say about this city, and we were sad to leave.
Hopefully I can get around to a trip report one of these days but didn't want to keep putting this off.

I've said it since I started planning trips here in 2004, Fodorites are the best.

dwdvagamundo

Thanks for checking back Casey. Happy that you had a good time!

SambaChula

"And yes yes yes the Brazilian visa was worth the NYC trip and worth every penny. We loved the bird park and though the heat was nearly unbearable wouldn't have missed both sides."

Since this visa dilemma seems to come up fairly often on the travel forums, I am pulling your comment out to highlight it for the next time.